Judgement
by SlayersBladeX
Summary: Reno nearly dies in a storm. Cloud just happens to be there to save him, but this confuses Reno why his enemy would even bother to take him in. Can he apologize just this once? [COMPLETE]


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It was amazing how fast the sky had changed from its bright azure blue to a foggy blackish deep violet, and the puffed clouds replaced by destructive looking sheet of black and gray clouds. The temperature had dropped drastically below zero, and to make matters worse rain poured endlessly for hours, combined with wet snow and a few indications of hail.

It had been two hours since he left the car - yes only two hours - although it seemed like days. He in fact wore his goggles for once, clasping his arms around his soaked body and teeth clattering annoyingly and tried a few times to rub some friction to diminish the lack of feeling of his arms, but failed.

Reno continued to heave his feet on the road, his shoes literally almost glued to the harshness of the mud. He coughed, regretting these past two hours.

"Should've begged Rude for some loose money to gas up before I left..." He uttered to himself resentfully, coughing afterwards. "...Damn it all... just for a few stupid letters and files...! I don't see why I should go instead of the blonde--!"

He felt like clobbering his fist through a tree, but he knew, repudiating, that it wouldn't solve anything but only give him a bloody hand.

Reno shut his eyes tightly as the winds began to pick up violently at a fast pace.

"I better get one hell of a paycheck in my hands when I get back--!"

He forced and urged himself to go on - stumbling and tripping from exhaustion, now using a barbed fence for balance. He knew it was stupid - but he had no choice. Blood trailed down his arm and dripped off his hands from the razor-sharpness of the fence, but the deadened numbness of his hands kept him from feeling the pain. The wintriness became even more than he could bare and his cuts were plainly frozen. He tried to pick the ice off his goggles, which were blinding him from seeing his route.

He felt stupid. Now, he was just following the fence, not knowing where he was going at all. Reno wheezed, defeated from the final blow and fell onto his chest, panting and coughing.

_Oh shit... now I'm in trouble_. He hated to admit it.

He forced himself up again, telling himself he wouldn't go down without at least trying. He continued blindly to follow the fence as a guide, hoping he would find some shelter to sleep. But again, he was tortured by the weather and collapsed for a very last time, hitting stiff on the ground.

He then snatched off his goggles, vitally forcing himself to keep within his screams from the pain.

_Oh god... someone... anyone... please... _

He realized he was nearly in tears. That never happens, and he felt ashamed. This all could of be prevented if he had only listened to Tseng to gas up with the given money before he left, but no - he boozed himself instead. Reno recalled a time when Elena shouted at him:

_"Don't you have that little voice in your head that guides your heart? If you don't, you really are the most selfish bastard I have ever met!!"_

Those words weren't very comforting, remembering that he accidentally exploded a very important machine that Tseng spent two years planning.

_"Don't worry about it. There's always next time."_ Tseng smiled at him, turning away. Reno then realized that he failed to see the hurt in Tseng's face, and instead just walked away into a nearby bar. And thus, it was Elena that lectured and scolded him.

Reno felt his heart pump heavily. Maybe he deserved this. Maybe it was his punishment for being so arrogant and ruthless. But he tried to be there for his friends, his mind echoed, even though he failed to express his feelings openly, he tried to fight by their side taking chances and jobs he didn't even bother question... he trusted them.

Reno clutched his fists, the pain returning to him. He felt utterly alone, and for the first time, he wished someone was there to talk to him instead of a beer bottle wreathed in angelic light to save him.

Warm tears melted away the ice on his face, trailing down under his chin. He was crying.

_Someone..._

_Anyone..._

_...Save me._

The unimaginable happened.

Reno felt his head loosely thump onto the ground, his head resting apparently against a door.

A sensational burst of warmth drifted on his frozen face. Reno, like himself, felt like he could burst into flames with joyous warmth. At that second, he couldn't care less if he was actually in fire or not in this weather.

"Reno...?" A very familiar voice pierced through the wind. Reno choked, having enough strength to raise his head, and look up. He couldn't believe it. Of all the people, he just couldn't believe it.

Cloud Strife glared down at the Turk, eyes wide, the both of them speechless.

"What are you..." Cloud didn't finish, just continued glaring at this fellow Turk. Reno didn't answer, just his aquamarine eyes gazing up at him, a silence between them despite the raging storm.

Reno's eyes told more than words could even tell.

Cloud was arguing in his mind. What are you doing? Help him! Were his first thoughts, then suddenly, his revengeful side took him. It served Reno right to just be dying from the raw cold, even now. The pain he was feeling was nothing compared to the countless people he had murdered. Cloud tightened his fist on the doorknob, preparing to shut the door on his face.

Reno deserves it. Reno should die-

_Listen to yourself_. He snapped in shock. _Your becoming like him. Your becoming loathing and hateful like Sephiroth_. Cloud then looked down at Reno. Reno seemed to know what Cloud was thinking all that time, and pleaded him not to let him go. Cloud finally made up his mind.

"Come on..." Cloud finally said, bending down and picking Reno under his arms, closing the door with his free foot. Cloud felt like he was carrying a sack of dry ice and Reno couldn't stop shivering. He whimpered weakly as Cloud placed him onto his bed, choking for air and coughed continuously. Reno closed his eyes, though remained shivering even huddled.

Cloud couldn't imagine anyone in a storm like this without a thick jacket or life gear at the least. Reno's clothes were frozen on him, and it took some time for Cloud to peel off his blue suit coat and hang in somewhere to dry. Cloud bent over, feeling Reno's forehead. He had a severe fever.

"Reno? You awake?" Cloud asked, seeing Reno's head limply on the pillow. No response. Cloud then narrowed his eyes as he paced away slowly, digging in the cabin for something that could hold in water, then finally finding an old teapot. He placed the teapot onto the furnace, tossing in a few more pieces of chopped wood.

He looked at Reno again.

He was complete mess. His hair was wet and his bangs were frozen. His face was pale and eyes swollen and red as though he had been brawling like a baby. Cloud pulled a chair beside Reno, feeling no desire to sleep now.

Reno slowly opened his eyes, finding that the rays of the sun aroused him. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, regaining his faded memory. He gritted his teeth, having a migraine headache.

* * *

_Oh that's right._ Reno thought sulkily in his mind. _I'm supposed to get the files... wait a minute... WHAT TIME IS IT?!_

Reno then jolted upright, realizing that it wasn't a dream that Cloud found him. He jerked his head left and right, then froze, seeing Cloud eyeing him from the opposite side.

"...Oh hey... uh thanks for, you know..." Reno said softly, embarrassed. Cloud drew his eyes coldly at the Turk, as though he couldn't care less if he did leave him out there, but then just forced out a smile and nodded. Reno looked apologetic.

"I'm not the type that let people die." Clouds voice was quiet, yet surged with powerful eloquence that really proved that he loathed Reno. Reno went silent looking down at the wooden floor receiving the message that hinted of that in Sector 7.

Reno narrowed his eyes, feeling frustrated and tired of being blamed. _What 's up with you people, ganging up on me as though I am the bad guy?! _He shouted stubbornly in his mind, facing away from Cloud. _So what if I killed some people... they were eventually going to die... you can't stop anyone from dying..._ Reno struggled a reason to find why he shouldn't be blamed, then ceased. He gave up thinking, it was just too hard. He felt it again, that guilt he awakened last night.

"...I'm... uh..." He found this difficult, realizing that he never really apologized for anything before.

"...Would you be able to forgive?" Reno asked silently, feeling follish. Cloud gazed into his aquamarine eyes. Reno felt his breath stop, Clouds glare having such a powerful impact though mentally, he felt like falling over.

"I could forgive." Cloud said slowly. "But I can never forget."

"...I'm... if I could just turn back time... I would... really..." That was the first thing that popped into his mind, and he wasn't sure if that was adequate enough. Cloud threw his gaze away, looking into a dark corner of the cabin.

"Well, you can't do that, now can you?" He muttered. "What's done is done. Just drop it." He said darkly. Reno turned his head away, looking into the crackling fireplace. He forced himself up from the bed.

Cloud finally looked at Reno, surprised he could stand. "What are you doing?"

"...Storms passed, so I guess I should get going." Reno said, scanning the cabin for his blue uniform coat. Cloud looked at him sternly, hiding his concern that he was a bit against Reno leaving so soon after last night. Reno took that glare a different direction.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to reveal this nice 'lil cabin out here. Besides, I owe you." He tried to be cheerful, but his smile faded. Cloud narrowed his eyes.

"That is not my concern." He said bluntly, holding out his finger and pointed at the door.

"There's the door, now use it. Get out. NOW."

Reno looked at Cloud, then turned away in bitter disgust with himself. He was actually hurt the way Cloud had treated him verbally. It was unusual, since he was used to being bossed around. But today was very different. This was Cloud Strife.

Just as Reno placed his hand on the door, he looked at Cloud earnestly. Cloud saw Reno glance at him in the corner of his eyes, but pretended to not notice and looked out the window. Reno stood there, quiet, head leaning against the door, still finding it unbelievable that Cloud saved him.

He raised his head, flickering aside his flame red hair from his eyes. "Cloud." He said open-heartedly.

"...I'm sorry."

**END**

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Bwaahah! How do you like my cheesy story? Yeah, I was bored and I really wanted to write something about Reno so I wrote it. I have another story about Reno I wrote in Business Education class, but its really comedic and stupid. I might put it up after I finish updating on my other stories. Ps I kinda slacked in the ending. Sorry!

Note: This is my very first short story, so take it easy on me when you click that little link on the bottom right-hand corner to review on me. Okay?


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